Memeorandum

February 18, 2019

GA House Speaker David Ralston And The Silence of the Dogs

What's up down South? The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported last week (Feb 13) on what looks (to my tired Yankee eyes) like an appalling abuse of power by the Republican Speaker of the House David Ralston:

Alleged victims say powerful Georgia lawmaker repeatedly delays cases

...

Yet more than four years after his indictment [on domestic violence, aggravated assault] Shell remains a free man, the charges against him stymied. A big reason: He paid a large retainer fee to hire an attorney who is also one of Georgia’s most powerful lawmakers, state Speaker of the House David Ralston.

Just as Ralston has done for other clients charged with violent or heinous crimes, he used his elected position to delay hearings and court dates, preventing the case from moving forward in the Gilmer County justice system.

“That’s why I gave him 20,000 bucks,” Shell told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “He’s worth every penny of it.”

A joint investigation by the AJC and Channel 2 Action News found that Ralston appears to be misusing the power of his public office to benefit his private law practice. By doing no more than writing letters to judges declaring that court dates interfere with his lawmaking duties, he has been able to keep cases perpetually off the docket. But his tactics can thwart justice, harm crime victims and put the public at risk.

Under a state law dating back to 1905, judges and prosecutors must defer to the legislative schedule of any practicing attorney who serves in the General Assembly. Other attorney-lawmakers, though, are mainly relegated to claiming the exemption during the annual 40-day legislative sessions.

As House speaker, Ralston, who practices law in the rural, mountainous counties of North Georgia, can claim conflicts year-round. In 21 cases examined in four counties over a two-year period, he filed 57 requests for continuances.

This story seems to have it what it takes to generate a media storm, namely sympathetic (alleged) victims and a Republican evil-doer. But maybe the media can't rally without footage of Ralston in a MAGA hat (or blackface!). A Google News search on "David Ralston" returns articles by the AJC, Channel 2 Action News, and Fox News. I'll credit Erick Erickson with the Fox coverage, since he has been pounding the table on Twitter for more coverage.

So why the media silence? The AJC bloggers wondered about a related question today - why the muted response from Democrats?

***

Earlier this morning, we told you that House Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, is facing criticism after an AJC investigation that found he frequently delayed criminal court cases by claiming the dates interfered with his legislative duties.

But as we have often said in this space, the dogs that don’t bark are sometimes just as important as the ones that do. What goes unsaid can be just as important as what’s said. This is the statement that arrived late Friday from the state Democratic party, via spokeswoman Maggie Chambers:

“These revelations show that Speaker Ralston has abused his power as a public servant to delay and deny justice for crime victims. As a legislator who has been given the trust of his constituents, he needs to remember his duty and put the needs of Georgia families before his own self-interest.”

“Needs to remember his duty” is a far cry from calling for Ralston’s resignation, a demand which -- so far as we know -- hasn’t passed the lips of any elected official in the state Capitol.

The Democratic party statement is a reminder that Ralston has been an occasional partner with Democrats in the Legislature on some particularly crucial issues. And we’ve a long way to go before this session of the General Assembly is finished.

I would not presume to lecture either Erick Erickson or the AJC on the subtleties of Georgia politics, but... oh, let me do just that. This article describes the 40 day agenda in the GA capital and notes that Speaker Ralston diverges from the newly elected Republican governor on two attention-getting issues: a Religious Freedom bill opposed by Democrats (and nixed by the last Republican governor) and the state takeover of the Atlanta airport.

...

And they’ve become a very highly charged issue. Republican Gov. Nathan Deal vetoed a RFRA in 2016, saying he was not disparaging the motives of the bill’s supporters, but he found there was a chance it could lead to state-sanctioned discrimination.

State House Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, he’s not sure there’s state House support for a RFRA.

He said his concern is that it’s an issue that has the potential to divide the state.

“I would would just ask us to pause before we get into an issue that has the potential to tear the fabric of the state,” Ralston said at a pre-session press conference last week.

But new Gov. Brian Kemp and new Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan are interested. Both have said they want to pass a RFRA that mirrors the language of the federal law.

And...

Ralston said he’s not ready to embrace the idea of a state takeover of the airport.

If corruption is the concern, Ralston said, “We have law enforcement, we have prosecutors, and I say let’s turn them loose to do what they need to do. I don’t know that you change the entire system because of some bad actors.”

If - IF - that is all that is holding Democrats back, they need to man up, woman up, or hero-up. As to Republican silence, or the media silence generally, I can't explain it. Where is the fact-free rush to judgment when we need it?

BONUS BAFFLER: The media Cone of Silence has fallen over Virginia. Maybe after the political meltdown there, no media members want to go near any southern state political leader. Maybe!

When all the dust clears, the media propaganda efforts to cover up both the coup attempt on Trump, and the Spygate scandal targeting his campaign, will be remembered by history as scandals as enormous as the crimes themselves.

--The heavy rains also triggered landslides and mud slides on California’s steep hillsides. For instance, in Knights Ferry and Mokelumne Hill, nearly every building was torn from its foundation and carried off by thundering landslides, and a major landslide also occurred at the town of Volcano in the Sierra foothills, killing seven people.--

Moke Hill I can see. It's about ten miles south of here on the edge of the Mokelumne River canyon. Volcano is about 3 miles from here and where I lived until I was one and we moved and lived again from the mid 80s til I married Mrs Ig. It's in a bowl shaped valley and I could see a landslide. At one time had about 5,000 people. Now has approximately 100.
But Knight's Ferry is almost in the central valley and is on one of my favorite driving routes. I'll have to try and envision a landslide there next time I go through.

The only mistake I saw was naming Nevada City which got 9 feet of rain in 2 months as a city in Nevada.
It's a small town north of DocJ in the CA Sierra Nevada and is in Nevada County CA. Pretty wet place and much more likely to get that much rain than any part of the state of Nevada.

We had an atmospheric river event in February 1986. But it only lasted about a week wherein it dumped around 18 inches around here. Can't imagine that continuing for a month or two.
I bet two months of that would do a trillion dollars of damage if it happened now.

THEY’RE BACK! HOUSE DEMS PLANNING EARMARK RESTORATION: You knew they would as soon as they got back in power. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and House Appropriations Committee Chairman Nita Lowey (D-NY) think bringing back “directed congressional spending” is just a dandy idea. They must have some new bridges to nowhere to fund.

I am pretty much the same weight I was in high school. I still wear a size 12, which for my build is about right.

What I am interested in is arthritis and psoriasis. My dad had terrible psoriasis beginning when he was about 50. The last 2 years I have gotten patches on my shins which keep me from wearing shorts in public and itch like hell.

When I heard Jordan Peterson say that I certainly paid attention. It won't kill me to go keto for a couple of months to see if it works.

Porch,
Just read that lynching law. It is a requisite of all parts of the law for Bodily harm to occur, so it isn't talking about speech of any kind.
It does mention using a phone, the internet or the mail [and firearms etc] in the process of committing or in furtherance of committing that bodily harm. But absent that bodily harm, no "lynching".

Pres Trump clearly defined Democrats strategy for2020
For;
1) open borders
2) killing babies
3) legalizing dangerous drugs
4) antisemitism
5) tax us to death
6) banning air planes
7) socialism
8) no cow farts
America has a clear choice
Trump 2020 or we become Venezuela
===================
That pretty much sums it up. There should be a lot of great commercials from this list.

Today more than 50 countries around the world now recognize the rightful government of Venezuela. The Venezuelan people have spoken and the world has heard their voice. They are turning the page on Socialism and Dictatorship; and there will be NO GOING BACK!

Do some research on it before you start Keto. There are many Keto groups on Facebook and doctors whe specialize in it who can tell you if it will work. I have excema in my ears, and Keto has not cured it.

How many times have I posted links to sites and told you carbs kill---but JANE is your hero????

Anonamom, you are my hero, for all the wisdom you impart here. You are a rarity among doctors, as most seem to stick to the conventional wisdom (low fat, whole grains, blah-blah). I found practically the one doctor in all of NYC who is in sync with me, but at the rate doctors have been disappearing here, I'm not hopeful I'll have him for long. I went through about four doctors in five years who either retired or otherwise closed/moved their practice.

Now it's extra illegal.
If you cause "bodily harm" you can be imprisoned for "any term of years or for life"; "bodily harm" being a rather elastic term.
And that can occur if one causes such harm due to race, ethnicity, blah, blah, gender, orientation, disability.
The one thing it can't be employed for appears to be causing bodily harm because of someone's political views.
Convenient that.

This guy sued the SPLC and won and now some random dude beats him down? You really muddied the water, Jussie:

Maajid - (Mājid) [maːʤɪd] ماجد
‏
Verified account

@MaajidNawaz

Tonight I was racially attacked while alone outside Soho theatre, from behind, as I bent down to pick up my phone. The white male assailant called me a “fucking Paki” as he hit me in the face with maybe a signet ring & ran away like a coward. He took nothing. He was just a racist

Huawei engineers working on a smartwatch met with a supplier last fall. According to the report, the engineers tried to eke out specs about the Apple Watch’s heart rate sensor by making promises of big orders.

ANONAMOM, I don't have arthritis. My mother does, My joints were getting stiffer and painful and my c-reactive tests keep showing inflammation is mounting. We could find no other reason for this so I decided to try keto. I am less stiff and the patch of psoriasis on my left elbow vanished entirely after 2 weeks on keto.

clarice, you may not have xray findings of pathological changes in joints (that's good!) or blood evidence of rheumatoid or psoriatic arthritis, but your symptoms--stiffness and pain--are what defines arthritis--inflammation of the joints is what causes the stiffness and the pain.

You aren't making it up---something is going on. Which improves with a low inflammation diet. Yay!!
Who tells you it's not arthritis? What do they want to call your joint inflammation symptoms, appendicitis? Pancreatitis?
Because the conventional medical world refers to that classic symptom complex affecting joints as arthritis.

Jane, the cake is easy to make. For company you might want to put some berries on top. It's very lemony and moist..(I use Lakanto --can't stand the after taste of other sweeteners.) The cheapest place to get almond and coconut flour is Costco--though the coconut flour comes in such a huge quantitiy you might want to search for it elsewhere.)

“The biggest abuse of power and corruption scandal in our history, and it’s much worse than we thought. Andrew McCabe (FBI) admitted to plotting a coup (government overthrow) when he was serving in the FBI, before he was fired for lying & leaking.” @seanhannity @FoxNews Treason!

anonamom--the worst stiffness I had was after an MrI and review by a specialist turned out to be spinal stenosis which gyrotonics and pilates seem to have managed nicely. I only have one swollen joint--pinky on my right hand (yes the same side as the psoriasis).I'm not sure what the cause is or whether that was the result of some trauma I'd forgotten about. It's not particularly painful--just stiff, especially some mornings..No other indicia of arthritis except for the increased readings of c-r inflammation.I don't want to take any chances. (My mother's is not psoriasis related--she has osteoarthritis which at almost 100 y.o. has become quite crippling. She has therapy 3 times a week to maintain her ability to walk short distances.

I'm mostly with Cates as well. I'm not sure who he is battling here on whether or not RR is a coup plotter since I don't know who here ever thought that of RR. If his point is that Hannity is probably wrong, the cudos to him for getting up to speed.

Daniel
@WatsonDanielLSU
Replying to
@JoshMBlackman
Starting to think Trump did the national emergency so lawsuits focused on that, while he builds barriers with the other executive action $$ He was able to get without the emergency

The discussion continued with Logan trashing news reports based on single, anonymous government sources, calling it an abandonment of journalistic standards.

“That’s not journalism, that’s horseshit,” Logan said. “Responsibility for fake news begins with us. We bear some responsibility for that, and we’re not taking ownership of that and addressing it. We just want to blame it all on somebody else.”

jimmyk, AFAICT the procedure was the people who drafted it were supposed to put a red flag telling the reviewers of any problematic thing in the FISA request. If none was there it was routinely just rubber stamped.Not the way it should have been done, but it was. The droogs at the bottom knew this and pulled the wool over the eyes of everyone just following the routine.

January 9, 2019 at 5:17 AM CST - Updated January 9 at 12:23 PM
(Gray News) - Rod Rosenstein is expected to depart the Justice Department once a new attorney general is sworn in, media reports say.
Rosenstein has communicated this to President Donald Trump and the White House that he plans depart the administration after William Barr, Trump’s nominee for attorney general, is confirmed by the Senate.

Hey, you guys are impressed with 51? I lost 130lbs, starting 4 years ago, over 16 months, and have kept it off since. (My weight has stayed within a 5-lb range.) Not particularly low-carb — my goal is 40% carb, 35% fat, 25% protein. In real life I get more like 50/35/15. But all my inflammation markers are way down — thyroid antibodies down, arthritis mostly gone, psoriasis patches gone.

All that comes from fanatical obsessive compulsive measuring and recording everything I eat. Yeah, I know that carbohydrate-rich food has a gazillion calories for nuthin. As I am fond of saying— there are three things:

"Speaking to GMA’s Robin Roberts, Smollett said, “And I looked up and I saw there was a camera directly on the light post that is in the intersection. So I’m like, ‘there it is!’… And then the detective told me that the camera inside of the casing was facing north, so they didn’t have it, and that was disappointing.”

That detail appears to stick in his craw. Later in the interview, unprompted, he brings it up again: “The camera facing north, how is that my issue?”

If these brothers are telling the truth that the attack was pre-planned, Smollett may have arranged for it to take place in a location where he assumed it would be recorded."....

"Take a step back, though…

Take a step back and look at the fire Smollett was allegedly willing to play with…
Imagine what it would have done to this country and to the city of Chicago if the attack had been recorded, if an outlet like TMZ had leaked the video, and if the wildly irresponsible race baiters at CNN had broadcast that video over and over and over again — an endless loop of two men assaulting a gay, black man; pouring bleaching on him and tying a noose around his neck."...

If Smollett did concoct this fake crime as seems increasingly likely, yet if 2 White guys were seen on video just walking around minding their own business but got pulled in by police and falsely charged, would Smollett have kept his yap shut and let their innocent lives be ruined?

I'd like to think he wouldn't be such a shit but since pretty much everyone on the Left and half the Right dumped all over the innocent Covington Kids to protect their narrative and/or to keep their toga's clean, I sure wouldn't bet on him having an ounce of integrity and doing the right thing.